LOOK TO THE FUTURE
Give your role a health check and make a plan to embrace change
WORKERS hoping to transition into an “encore career” rather than move straight to retirement are urged to start their plans well before the time arrives.
Taken in the second half of a person’s working life and based on choice rather than necessity, encore careers should be treated with the same forward planning as any career change.
Stillwell Management Consultants organisational psychology consulting head Alexandra Rosser recommends workers start to seriously consider the topic at about age 50, for example, so they can move about age 55.
“It’s probably (a good idea) five years out from when you think you want to retire from your current career,” she says.
“If you are not as interested in your work or able to maintain the same pace, that might be indicating early signals you need to start anticipating that next phase.
“That transition is always easier if you have groomed a successor for your role and opportunities are presenting naturally and organically … but if that is not happening, it needs to be a more deliberate process.
“Get serious about doing that while you still have the stability of your current role.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected many older workers, with issues from unemployment and underemployment through to reduced superannuation in response to a weaker share market requiring them to postpone retirement.
It has many workers rethinking their futures and if they can or want to stay in their current career.
Rosser says an encore career can be used to engage in work with greater social impact; fulfil a burning passion a worker has always had but been unable to pursue; or leverage a strength that has been unearthed during an earlier career.
It can form a bridge to retirement. “They might not be ready to stop working altogether but, for example, they might not want leadership responsibilities or might want fewer hours,” she says.
ABS figures show the most common careers for men aged 55 to 64 are specialist managers, road and rail drivers or automotive and engineering trades workers, while women are most likely to be carers and aides, health professionals or educational professionals.
Absolute Care & Health chief executive Barbara Ould says mature workers can fit really well into a care-giving role.
“Life experience, raising a family and previous careers all create a great base for a role in which knowing how to relate to and engage with other people is so important,” she says.
“For those who might be feeling that they’ve had enough of the corporate office job, or that they’d like to do something that has more meaning to them, a role as a carer or support worker can be incredibly rewarding.”
Lyn McBain, who has worked in nursing for 50 years, transitioned into a role as an educator with Absolute Care & Health at the end of last year after initially being asked to teach first aid.
“My specialty is brain injuries. Now I teach a lot of that to the carers and nurses,“she says.
McBain, pictured (right) with nurse Kerryn Gulyas and Rosemary McLeod, has gained several tertiary qualifications during her career including a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment.